Your views on Outlaws and Vigilantes

A couple nights ago i was watching a British film called "Outlaw". The plot is basically about a man who came back from the war in Afghanistan to a
country he didn't even recognize no more. Drug dealers, Gangs, Pedophiles and so forth. So he gets a gang together and become outlaws, hunting down
criminals through information given from a bent police officer.

This film got me thinking, almost every country in there history has had a famous vigilante or outlaws.

And probably the most recent and infamous vigilante Jonathan "Jack" Idema, who after the 9/11 terror attacks went upon himself to go to Afghanistan
and capture several men he believed to be terrorists.

Many outlaws and vigilantes come out of times of trouble and mounting pressure on societies which create a gap which in the eyes of some the law cant
fill so they take it under there powers to be the judge and jury, and in some cases the executioner ( Judge Dredd

)

So, my question to you ATS'ers is, What are your thoughts on rogue outlaws and vigilantes ? are they heroes or villains ? if a neighbor of yours
went round killing, capturing rapists and kiddy fiddlers ? would you fear them or hail them ?

and one more question, if these people were captured, would you want them to have a reduced sentencing in the courts ?

My opinion, they would be heroes, and if caught to have a reduced sentencing, even gave a medal.

I'm all for it, when you cant trust, your government to do what should be done, do it yourself, as long as you remember why your doing it and what
the cause is for, The cause for good, and for lessons to be learnt.

I've always looked apon robin hood as someone who did they right thing and hes a hero, it just takes time to see.

i do not really know since most of the character you've mentioned are fictional. the ones that are real aren't really vigilante, they're mentally
unstable and their work changes nothing. society as it is today have no room for them.

I agree Robin Hood is a good example, take from the rich to give to the poor.

Actually, all the stories were about take from the Govt (King or de facto King) and give to the populace.
Basically the idea that the Govt's taxes were crushing the people, and thus taking the taxes back.
Not really the "Rich" in most regards.

Actually I could see special forces being used to deplete gangs like ms-13, drug dealers, corrupt politicians and so forth through extrajudicial
killings/summary execution either because there is insufficient legal evidence, revolving court system or too much money. Maybe a "Street Judge"
system like Judge Dredd.

Originally posted by Bramble Iceshimmer
Actually I could see special forces being used to deplete gangs like ms-13, drug dealers, corrupt politicians and so forth through extrajudicial
killings/summary execution either because there is insufficient legal evidence, revolving court system or too much money. Maybe a "Street Judge"
system like Judge Dredd.

Unless Marshal Law is declared at the Federal level, there are is no way that US Military Forces can be set out to enforce laws.

I have a slight problem with outlaws, which is what do they do when they kill/chase away all the "unwanted" elements in your society? Who do they
answer to? What do they do, start their own agenda then? To me, that's a bit scary.

However, if a council was formed, which pointed to a directive, and there was a check and balance system in place, and the outlaw answered to said
system, then I'd be fine with it.

Committing a crime to deal with a crime is somewhat illogical. Allowing crime to exist is equally so. The system is broken, eh?

If society and culture fail in their duties to others and itself, then the former will appear.
If society and culture fail to rectify that aspect of the "problem," vigilantes will appear, complicating the situation.

Both phenomena are not outside the confines of society and culture, but a invariable part of a strictiral failure of a civilization to maintain itself
for various reasons. Chaos is ensured as everyone "else" becomes the enemy one way or another.

I agree, vigilante's are created by society themselves. And like a previous stated, what would the vigilante do once his agenda is complete? Would
they just go back to normal living? If they commited murder, you would have to ask the question, has the vigilante only killed to enforce the
punishment? Or commited murder because of his mental health? And justified the murder of a criminal with claiming vigilante?

As an avid comic book fan I have been postulating for many years now as to how far we are off having an actual, real life Batman running around. I
honestly don't believe we are far off.

All it takes is someone with the money and either the mental delusion, or willpower, to make it happen. Most of Batmans "toys" are within grasp of
modern technology, so why not?

With a lack of trust in law enforcement and the laws of the land, I can see it happening sooner or later - and providing the vigilante sticks to
non-lethal methods it would be interesting to see peoples reactions to it.

This content community relies on user-generated content from our member contributors. The opinions of our members are not those of site ownership who maintains strict editorial agnosticism and simply provides a collaborative venue for free expression.